Always in for a free book I have received the deluxe editon just a week, but I haven't got time to read it... I have almost examinations, you see, so Tolkien has to make (a little) way for some time... Is it good? (the book Sigurd and Gudrún, I mean)

By the way, thanks HoughtonMifflin!

Posted on: 2009/5/14 11:20

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'Love not too well the work of thy hands and the devices of thy heart; and remember that the true hope of the Noldor lieth in the West, and cometh from the Sea'

The story is terrific! I have always been a fan of the old legends, including the Sigurd/Siefried sagas. I am afraid that many people may be turned off from this book, especially if they come to it seeking more Middle Earth. However, true Tolkien fans will enjoy it greatly, as it reveals more of the influences and ideas behind Tolkien concepts.

Thanks to the German Tolkien Society, I found a German review in the top German newspaper: "Even to the great cry of vengeance". This is a serious and positive review, even though it starts out by stating that Tolkien's retelling of the Edda came from the same impulse as fanfic by readers of J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer and as Jules Verne's continuation of Edgar Alan Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket as Le Sphinx des glaces, Goethe's continuation of Alois Schikaneder's Magic Flute and Ariosto's continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's Orlando Inamorato.

Posted on: 2009/5/20 12:52

_________________Then in the name of the king, go and find some old man of less lore and more wisdom who keeps some in his house! - Gandalf in Minas Tirith [LR 5 VIII:70]

Even if it would have been thath kind of retelling, it will be nice. I have read Le Sphinix des glaces (The green ray?, I think that was how it was translated to Spanish) and Orlando Mad (?), illustrated by Gustave Dore. And they are good, Tolkien wrote/told (?) that if he would have read Ariosto's Orlando, he wouldn't have liked it; I never agreed with him... a bit like Inferno by Dante.